Tour of Britain: Olav Kooij takes record fourth stage in a row on stage 4
Jumbo-Visma rider profits from Van Aert lead-out
Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) took a record breaking fourth sprint win at the Tour of Britain after another textbook lead out from teammate turned domestique Wout Van Aert in Newark-on-Trent.
Jumbo-Visma took the wrong line around a fast left turn with four kilometres to go and so Van Aert was forced to make an effort to position Kooij but the WorldTeam were again dominant and soon moved up to the front.
Kooij lost Van Aert's wheel but dived under a rider with a kilometre to go to get back to the sweep spot for the sprint.
The Belgian then came off Nathan Van Hooydonck's wheel, hurt the other sprinters with a long lead out, meaning Kooij only had to kick away in the final 150 metres to win yet again and set a Tour of Britain win record.
Casper van Uden (Team dsm-firmenich) was second, with Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) third.
"You never get used to winning, it's always nice but also always difficult in sprints," Kooij said.
"Again the control by the guys was really good. We lost a rider in the final kilometres but we still managed to pull it off. The guys we have here are proven. They know what to do, they've got the experience and the power."
More to come
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
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